Here on Active Brain we are fairly civil to one another, but on many other sites, (such as those that rhyme with Pillow, & Foolya as well as others), they seem to be a little bit of the Wild Wild West, with little, ineffective or no moderation at all.

Commenters and questioners are often subjected to, how shall we say, colourful language, sarcasm and outright attacks by semi-anonymous posters, with little else to do but hang around waiting for their next victim while hiding behind interesting double-entendre Icons and Screen names. Since many of these internet sites don't require any true identification, we've all seen participants who's method of disagreement tends to be insults and harassment, and then ducking back behind their anonymity.

I thought it might be appropriate to post Alan's List of Internetiquette and guidelines for a happy, happy internet playdate. So, without further ado, here are "Alan's rules for InternetPlaytime".

• COMMENTS When commenting, try to add value to the conversation. As tempting as it is to respond with "yeah... I agree", it's better to add some explanation such as "Yeah... I agree... This is the best explanation of dual-agency I've seen in print, and Alan is an internet God". In fact, I really like that language, feel free to copy & paste it, and simply replace the subject matter with whatever is being discussed at the time.

• SALES PITCH As tempting as it might be, please try to avoid the "Hard Sell". The Internet is the place for buyers and sellers to find you and learn about you. They don't want to wade through your listings in post after post. They aren't here to hear to you say "Call me, pick me, choose me". Be a valuable member of the community. Add value to conversations, give reliable responses, and be the voice of reason. You won't ever have to say "Call me"... buyers and sellers will beat a path to your door.

• DISAGREEMENTS It's inevitable that there will be disagreements with some who are posting. Feel free to disagree, but try to do so 'respectfully'. Y'all remember respect, don't you. It's that method of conversation that we used to have when we had to have conversations face-to-face. If you wouldn't feel comfortable saying something to their face, in front of you own mother... then perhaps you ought to try to reword it... hmmm? If you find someone breaking the sites rules... please don't be "confrontational"... flag them, and let the site handle it. Don't worry, the readers are smart enough to recognize a show-off, or bully, when they see one. Please don't feed the trolls.

• COPYRIGHTS We all know you're clever. Not to mention incredibly good-looking, but try not to make yourself look even better by copying and pasting someone else's stuff, and passing it off as your own. It's so easy, today, to find plagiarism on the internet, and you can rest assured that someone who's perusing your comments or your blogs will undoubtedly check... and when they identify that you "stole" that incredibly highbrow paragraph from Chaucer, they're going to "out" you, and you'll feel very much the fool. Just don't do it. You also open yourself (and Active Brain, or whatever platform you're currently using) to a potential lawsuit, and a whole passel of expenses (that's right... I said "Passel"). Ask Lenn Harley...she'll explain further.

• ETHICS AND ACCURACY As Realtors (and Real Estate Agents), when talking about Real Estate, we have an ethical obligation to be accurate and honest. And be very careful when commenting about Real Estate practices in states other than the one you practice in. The rules change dramatically from state to state. If you comment, be sure you know what you're talking about.

• SPELLING Most sites (Active Brain included) have spell check. Please avail yourself of its functionality. It takes only a few moments, and is so, so helpful. I don't automatically discount the comments of those who have the occasional misspelling, but when there are multiple misspellings per paragraph, or even per sentence... it sure does slow down my enjoyment of that post.

• PARAGRAPHS For those of you who like to wax on, and on, and on... please try to break up your verbosity with paragraphs. I don't really care if you use them properly or not... just break it up visually, so we don't have to slog through a single 4,000 word paragraph. If you really feel up to it, add some graphics... it makes your post that much more appealing, and readable. It makes us think that you actually gave some thought to your post, and you care what people think.

I'm sure there are lots and lots of "rules" that I haven't addressed.... care to add?

Thanks, Alice. Good reminder. I stay away from the other sites because there always seems to be a "troll" out there trying to harass agents and bring them down. Active Rain is the only site I will share my comments on because, well, we're all active brains.

Recent Posts

Disclaimer: Trulia, Inc. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. Trulia, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.